Housing near transit is the latest development
October 12, 2005; As originally appeared in Connecticut
Post by Rob Varnon
BRIDGEPORT
— The construction crews renovating the Citytrust building
downtown might be creating more than new apartments; they
could be building the future of Connecticut transp
Connecticut Post
The
Housing Development Fund of Fairfield County Inc., a Stamford-based
nonprofit bank, presented a panel discussion on transit-oriented
development, or TOD, Friday at Housatonic Community College
— just two blocks away from the Citytrust building.
The purpose of the forum was to introduce the concept of TOD
and get people talking about it as an alternative to expanding
development in the suburbs.
According
to Jan Wells, program administrator, research professor at
Rutgers University's Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center
and a panelist at the forum, TOD is basically housing that
is located within a half mile of a bus or railroad station
in a neighborhood that includes shopping options.
"I
like to define transit-oriented development sort of like the
[U.S.] Supreme Court defines pornography," she told the
29 people at the event. "I know it when I see it Sort
of like downtown Bridgeport."
New
York developer Eric Anderson is turning the Citytrust building
into 118 apartments with room on the ground floors for retail
and offices. He is also working on two other buildings within
the neighborhood that would add another 65 housing units to
the area. All of the apartments will be within a half-mile
of the Metro-North New Haven Line Railroad station, the Bridgeport
Transit Authority bus station and the Bridgeport Port Jefferson
Ferry Terminal.
Wells,
who was a developer before becoming a professor, said TOD
has helped boost redevelopment in many New Jersey towns and
cities. Hoboken, N.J.'s, 9th Street Station, located on the
Hudson Bergen Rail Line, has seen more than 1,500 units built
around it, she said.
Brent
Barnes, director of systems planning and research for the
New Jersey Department of Transportation, said his agency embraced
TOD in 1999 as a way to fight rising road construction costs.
"It
helps save a ton of money for us because we won't have to
go out and build a ton of new roads if we use our land intelligently,"
he said.
New
Jersey's transportation problems echo those of Connecticut.
Barnes
said the Garden State is facing ever-increasing traffic congestion,
loss of open space as businesses migrate to the suburbs and
the decline of the state's city centers due to the loss of
population and business.
But,
according to Barnes, his agency is tackling these problems
by encouraging development near transit hubs.
New
Jersey created a program to provide loans, research and grants
to communities that want to redevelop neighborhoods around
rail, bus or ferry terminals. According to Barnes, proximity
to mass transit is a key requirement.
Eleven
New Jersey agencies participate in the program, he said, working
with the cities and towns to create new neighborhoods.
The
Connecticut Department of Transportation has said it is interested
in instituting TOD programs.
Joan
Carty, executive director of the Housing Development Fund,
said she wanted to get the discussion going on TOD because
it's not only a helpful tool to transportation planners, but
also a way to restore the greatness of some of the state's
cities.
She
said the Citytrust project may prove that "an old post-industrial
city can revitalize itself."
Rob
Varnon, who covers business, can be reached at 330-6216.
|
